Another Rainy Monday.. Tuesday

What a great weekend. Granted I didn't sell anything on Saturday, but I did get to set up my tent and it looked awesome! I had such a nice time too. The weather was incredible and Mary came and kept me company for most of the day and I got to spend some time talking history with another vender named John. It was very nice. Then we went to Rock Hoppers for coffee and company and I came home and DIED! I was so nervous about putting up my tent that I guess it just got to me. Sunday, we went to a brunch with my son's girlfriends family (and our friends) and then went to Rock Hoppers for the Clinton days music. It was a lot of fun for us. Yesterday I read, did a small amount of gardening and then read some more and crashed again at 11:00 PM. I feel a little revived today which is good because I have to go work at the shop this afternoon. Sooo......
I have a lady coming over this afternoon to buy a shelf that I have on my website. My website for all of those who haven't seen it yet is http://www.ferryfolk.com Check it out. Well I need to get going. I had a little touch up to do on that shelf and I really want to put a couple of coats of polyurethene on it before my customer comes to pick it up. Talk to ya soon. R

Another Sunny Day in Seattle?

Hey, what is going on? It isn't even June and we have another sunny warm day! It's in the 80's today. That is unheard of! Well, I got my rocking chair done for the Flea Market tomorrow. So I have two new pieces to show along with my other things. I finished my covers for the table and my display rack and Dan will finish the display rack this evening. Sooo.... I got kind of scared this morning. I went up to the store and drove by the flea market and there were no tents there. I thought oh great.. You sign up for the flea market and the first weekend you can be in it the flea market is not there! On the way home though, someone was setting up a tent so the flea market is on for this weekend! I will have a tent set up at any rate! It may be a very small flea market. Actually, it is just starting up so it is very small anyway, and it really isn't a flea market but more of a craft and antique show... sorta. Anyway, if you are on Whidbey this weekend, come check out the flea market and introduce yourself.
I got kind of spooked yesterday when I was painting. Actually I had something kind of weird happen about a week ago when I was in my studio and it happened again yesterday. That is what spooked me. About a month ago, my husband bought an electronic doorbell for our home. The doorbell that we had did not work right and when I was upstairs I could not hear it. This doorbell has two receivers that my son programmed with a simple doorbell tune. One of the receivers is upstairs in my studio and the other is in the living room. Anyway, I was upstairs working on my painting and suddenly the doorbell rings. I told my husband (who was downstairs) to answer the door. He hollers up at me "why?" I told him that was the doorbell and he says "I didn't hear a doorbell." Now I know I heard a doorbell. It went Bing Bong just like all doorbells do. Only our doorbell is supposed to make a song. It does make a song. This was not our doorbell.... We didn't know what it was but I was a little spooked. Well today it did it again. This time I realized that the sound was coming from my receiver but it wasn't until I went downstairs and started looking for the person who rang the doorbell, that I realized it wasn't our doorbell. I suddenly realized that our receiver upstairs is receiving someone else's signal for their electronic doorbell as well as ours. I am thoroughly delighted that whoever it is has visitors about as often as we do. Anyway, I don't dare move the receiver because if it is downstairs I cannot hear it from upstairs so I will just have to tolerate the minor intrusion from someone else's doorbell. Just one of the quirky things you learn to deal with in an old house.... This one I can live with.
Well, it is getting late and I need some rest. Take care and I'll catch ya tomorrow. Hopefully, I will have good news about selling some stuff. R

Our first day of Summer!

So here I am on one of the most glorious days of the year and I have to paint and sew! Not only that but this old house turns into a furnace upstairs where my studio is! Still, my curtains are finished for my tent, one floor cloth is finished, I have a rocking chair ready to introduce and a coffee table (I hope). I hope it is finished in time but if not then it will be at the next flea market.
Dan and I went to see the most wonderful little movie last night. The wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill. It was an independent film and it was terrific. I found myself wondering why I spent so much to go see the latest greatest Star Wars. Why don't they make more movies like this little film?
Well, I went to the thrift store today. I found a wonderful rocking horse to paint and two lamps that are somewhat Native American in nature. I wont paint them that way of course. Native American is not really my style and the look of the lamps lend themselves to my style as well.
I also picked up some really nice frames as well. So that means more paintings. I love doing canvases anyway it's just that they take so long compared to other works. But I will soon have some more paintings to sell. I am hoping to have a beaded shade with matching lamp soon as well.
In case you haven't visited my site yet here is the link: http://ferryfolk.com I hope you can access it. It has all my most current projects and what I don't have pictures of yet will go in next week. I will post a picture of my tent on this site as well so you can see me at work.
Well, I had better be going back to painting. Talk to ya soon. R

Another Working Day

Do you ever have one of those days when you really seem to be getting a lot done but you wonder if it is worth it? I have made the cover for my display rack, my tablecloth and finished two of my curtains and they look really cool. Thing is I wish I knew how they were going to look all put together and I wont know that till this Saturday. Sooo It's a crap shoot! I'm pretty sure they will look very nice but if it involves sewing .... well let's just say that sewing is not my forte'. Ok.. You want a story...
When I was in high school we were required to do a sewing project for our home ec. Class. This was a long time ago in a very small school district. The average income in this district today is $18,000 for a family of four. This according to their statistics on their website. Anyway, I guess they figure it is important for the girls to be able to make clothing because they probably can not afford to buy it ... But with the cost of material today.. Who Can Afford To Make It? Anyway, the project we had to make had to have a zipper, interfacing, a collar and darts. So my mom and I dutifully went to town to buy material and all the supplies to make this really cool dress that I had found a pattern for. It was kind of like a "gunny sack" style dress, form fitted with puffy sleeves and a wonderful apron that fit over the top of it. I was so excited about making the dress. When I got to school I showed our teacher. She was a little dubious that I could get all of the dress and the apron done in the allotted time but she okay'd the dress at least and if I had time for the apron.. Hey, go for it! So I picked out a large table and began putting the pattern out on the material. First thing that happened was I had not gotten enough material. I was short about 1/2 yard. That's quite a lot when you are making a dress. But with the help of my teacher and almost the entire hour we finally figured out a way to lay out the dress pattern on the material and get most of the dress. My mother and I would have to go back into town to get some more supplies to finish off the collar and the necessary interfacings. So I began cutting out the dress. I cut very carefully each individual piece and put them aside till I was done. Then the next day we began doing the zipper on the back two places and then the sleeves and so on. You have to understand there were only so many sewing machines and we didn't sew every day. So the projects were designed to last at least one month. About two weeks into the making of the dress I finally got to put the front and back together. That is when I discovered that somewhere along the way I had created a wonderful little "V" shaped hole right where the belly button should be. After crying for a few minutes my teacher finally told me about a wonderful product called "wonder under". This meant another trip to the fabric store for yet more supplies. I grew to despise this dress! I put one sleeve on upside down and the other sleeve had the most wonderful even gather right in the arm pit. The color was crooked (just a little... But I knew it) and it had a hole! Granted I was the only one that could see the hole but... It was there! I got a "C" on that dress mostly because of fortitude. At the end of the semester we had a modeling show and mother's tea. We had to wear the dresses we made. I hated that. Not only did I have to model the dress with the hole in the belly but I won an award that year so I had to go down that long aisle two times instead of just once. I just knew everyone was looking at my belly!!
I got home and on came the jeans. My sister made the apron to go with the dress and I wore it once after that but it was just to much. The dress became a very expensive rag for the rag bin and life went on.
Now where was I before talking about my naval dress.... Ah yes. I was discussing my sewing. It is sad that I enjoy all crafting except sewing. In truth there are even a few sewing things I enjoy. I love doing free sewing with small pieces of material. I just did that to a piece of material about 12" by 9" and covered with polyester. Then cover with lace and then burn the fabric with a soldering iron. It is really interesting and you get a really interesting piece from it. I am going to cut it up into small pieces and use it on a lamp shade with beads. Anyway, I also love applique but I have to admit I enjoy doing the hand sewing more than using the machine.
Well, I should go up and finish painting. This morning I had a visit from a huge male pheasant outside. He decided to make a nest under our lilac bush. While I applaud this romantic location I would prefer he move his nest to the area in our pasture that my husband is not mowing. He wants to make a habitat for pheasant and other animals. If he does manage to attract a female under my lilacs I may have to quit mowing for a few months. I do love pheasants and I guess I could get by with only half my lawn mowed. It is for a good reason... Right?
I need to go paint now. I have procrastinated enough. Talk with ya tomorrow. R

Star Wars...BLAH

Well, we went to the movies yesterday. Had to go see Star Wars. I was so excited about it. Even though it had gotten some bad press, I was looking forward to the circle being closed! I think after seeing it I will just pretend that the first three (star wars IV, V, and VI) were the entire story and forget that I even heard about...Much less saw Star Wars 1 through 3. I HATED this latest movie. I don't hate many movies but I really Hated this one!! The droids had better acting than the actors did... The action was so fast that at times it was just a huge light blur on the screen and the actors... I just wanted Anakin to smile just once. He scowled the entire time of the movie and I came away feeling that that was the only acting he was capable of. I do have to admit the first few minutes of the movie had some parts in it that really did make me laugh but from then on it was just Boring! I didn't feel sad or mad or anything. Just BORED! It truly was awful.
So enough about this movie... Saturday, I had such a nice evening. I went to a Pampered Chef party at Mary's house. It was a great deal of fun! I got to tell a few stories and we laughed a lot. I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
Dan got on my blog the other day and after reading it and pointing out all the errors (which have since been fixed) told me that I need to refer people to my website and then print the site address in my post. The address for my website is listed in my profile section but if you don't feel like going to look at my profile here is my address; www.ferryfolk.com
For all of you who have been checking out my site... And there were 81 of you yesterday... Thank you!
Well, I guess I had better go for now. I have a ton of painting to finish today and I want to get it done! I am hoping to have a rocking chair done for the Flea Market on Saturday. Stop by and see my stuff. Please note.. If you want to see my items they are on my site. I am also planning on displaying at the Clinton Flea Market but only if there is no wind or rain. My lamps do not stand up well to either one. So when the weather is good on Saturdays come see me at the market. Otherwise I do have studio hours. Thanks, talk with you soon. R

An Exciting evening on the Island

You would think we were in LA. Dan and I went to take some things up the hill to Rockhoppers coffeehouse in Clinton. You know its the place run by our friends. Anyway, we are having a piece of pie and all of a sudden here comes a blue car going about 70 to 80 miles an hour right through the heart of Clinton. He has 3 cop cars on his tail with lights going and sirens and one of them scoots up behind the car that they are chasing and butts the car. Now keep in mind that should the car have lost control it had no safe place to skid. It would have run into people or buildings. Not to mention that the ferry had just finished unloading and well.... There were tourist cars and locals all over the place!! Then we get a call from our friends neighbors and it turns out their house is on fire. Then we find out that the state patrol was busy in Coupeville. There was an accident with a fatality there this evening. The emergency services were very busy tonight.
The weather is supposed to be awful again tomorrow with wind and rain. Needless to say I wont have my tent up at the flea market. My lamps don't do well in the wind! I hope the weather is good over Memorial Day. I do plan on having my tent up that Saturday.
For all of you out there who are grammar nuts, please forgive my poor spelling and left out words on my previous posts. The truth is I have had so much fun just learning to blog that I haven't been real concerned with spelling and grammar. However my hubby is and he has added a spell checker for me to use from now on. I don't guarantee that it will take care of all the problems but it will help. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I now have four dolls and a few smaller items on display at RockHoppers. Come on by, have some coffee and check out my dolls. I will talk with you again tomorrow. For now, Goodnight. R

Story time

So I was coming home from Oak Harbor this morning and I am thinking about what I should blog this afternoon. My husband has said in the past, that I have some great "actual" stories to tell and I should tell some of them, I have a great recipe for salmon on the grill for summertime and some other stuff I could blog. I decided to do a story. So sit down children in a semi circle around me, and listen to this wonderful story written in honor of my sons.
I believe I have told you that my husband, and children and I, have traveled all over the United States. Dan was in the Navy and they transferred us from Oak Harbor WA to Denver to San Diego. When he got out of the military he got a job in Marion Ohio. So we packed up the kids and moved to Marion. After 4 years in Mt Gilead (where we lived) we moved back to WA only this time we got to live on the south end of the island in Clinton. Anyway, this story takes place as we are getting ready to move to WA. From Ohio. Seems my son (Dan Adam) went to school one day about three days before we were to leave. At the end of one of his classes he got up to say goodbye to his teacher, and the SCIENCE teacher told him goodbye and to have fun hunting all those sasquatch. When my son got home he relayed that message to me and when I asked him about his teacher Dan said "Oh mom, he always says smart things like that as a joke." I thought about this for a few moments and since I was feeling a little ornery at the time decided to turn the "joke" around on him. That evening I sat down at the computer and composed a letter to him.

Dear Sir,
I am extremely upset by a comment you made to my son today as he was leaving your class. The comment being "Have fun hunting sasquatch". I am appalled that you would imply that my son might have fun going hunting for a thing that could very well be a relative of his...
You see my mother's brother was a very large man. He stood over 7 feet tall when he ran away from home at 17 years of age. My mother's family tried to keep track of him but it became very difficult after a time. He tended to be very reclusive. After moving up into the mountains and becoming a nudist he disappeared from most of my mother's families friends hemisphere. There is something about nudity that does discourage companionship unless you don't mind nudity yourself. Anyway, while in his teenage years his feet and hair began growing at a phenomenal rate. When he left home my mother said his hair was needing trimmed every other day and was growing all over his body, and his feet were already so large that his shoes had to be special ordered.
It is said he moved up into the mountains so he would not have to cut his hair so often. It is also said that the hair on his body kept him so warm that he did not have a need for clothing anymore and thus he became a hermit or a recluse. Overtime I imagine that he began looking somewhat like what people call a sasquatch but we just can't call him anything other that uncle Clive. I have enclosed a piece of his hair that he sent to my mother shortly after leaving home. You can tell it is long and dark in color. This piece of hair along with the descriptions have left us to conclude that Sasquatch must be uncle Clive. It is rumored that there is a Mrs. Sasquatch but no one knows that for sure and I and my family are unaware of a female with the same physical conditions as my uncle ever showing up missing anywhere. Although if the only option I had to eliminate unwanted hair all over my body was wax treatments or laser, I have to admit I would be inclined to move into the mountains with Uncle Clive as well....
Given these facts you can surely understand why I would be upset about the suggestion that my son should have fun hunting a relative.
I hope in the future you will consider your words well and I wish you well. Thank you, Rene Schlangen

The next day my son gave the letter and a piece of my hair to his science teacher. When I asked my son what the teacher did (thinking he would read the letter as the prank that it was and laugh). He said, the teacher read the letter turned pale white, and took the letter to the principle. I received an note of apology from the school the next day.
This is just to let them know that 7 years later.. Apology accepted. :)
See ya later. R

An Almost Friday, Thursday

Do you ever have that kind of day when you wake up look around and simply want to go back to bed? It's almost Thursday.. If I could sleep through it it would be Friday. I am an awful procrastinator. I should be on my way to Oak Harbor today instead I will go tomorrow. Today I will work at the shop (Teens unlimited) in Langley and then go to work on my paintings again. I have one floor cloth almost all done and another on it's way so they should be finished by Saturday. Of course I have to finish the floor cloths today because tomorrow is all about sewing and finishing my curtains for my tent!
Dan and I will be here over Memorial Day weekend this year so I will be displaying my stuff on that Saturday up at the flea market. I will also be displaying my stuff there this Saturday. If you can come check it out!
Well, I had better get going. I have a lot to get done today. Talk with ya later tonight probably. R

Another late night! Ah Menopause!

What a life! It is now 1:48 AM and I am sitting here wide awake! I just primed a floor cloth and watched a movie (James Bond ... MY HERO :)) and took my little dog out to go pottie and well here I am without a yawn and I have a feeling it might be a long night. I am getting used to it but it can be annoying. I have more painting to do so when my floor cloth gets good and dry I will roll it up and do the priming for another one. For those of you who do not know... a floor cloth is a painted canvas that goes on the floor in place of a rug. It has to go on hardwood or linoleum or some other hard surface. It sits flush on the floor and you can walk on it and everything. Floor clothes were used a long time ago since they were easy to clean and took less time to make than a crocheted rug or a braided rug and they were lighter and could be moved around more easily. Anyway, I am hoping to get some done for Saturday. Just this evening I sold one of my items and got a commission for a painting. I have to say I am somewhat overwhelmed by all the positive input into my work. Remember I told you (I think I did anyway.) that when I started painting it was because 1. I ran out of my own furniture to paint and I am running out of walls to paint in my house, and 2. My husband and my best friend both said I have talent and I need to sell some of my things. Although I have always wanted to do this I just never felt I was good enough. There always seemed to be a new technique or a new craft to master to make me better. It is so much fun to get such a positive endorsement to my work. I don't quite understand it because in truth, it seems so easy to do. I just figure if I can do it then anyone can. My husband assures me that is not the case. He has tried at times to prove it but I am never sure that his attempts are on the level. I cant understand how anyone can paint so badly... He is a computer geek. While this may not explain everything I do believe it helps. My husband sees everything through logical thought. EVERYTHING! No abstract! No Rose coloring! No wavy lines... Just O..O..O..O.. And o...1's. For those of you out there that don't understand that it is how computers speak. I really don't care how they speak, personally just that they get my messages out there comprehensibly. So... Anyway where was I? Oh yeah... I have a best girlfriend who is also a techie. I admire her so much. She talks about electronics like I talk about painting. I think my talking about painting is a little bit more understandable to her than her talking about trons is to me but anyway she is a very logical person. She also is creative in her own right but her creativity tends to be geometrical or linear in nature. Anyway, we wanted to paint her living room and after some discussion and sampling we decided on sponging the walls. This was a tough one for her. The randomness just threw her for a loop. I would go back and get her patterned sponging so it looked more random and show her how to rotate the sponge and overlap it occasionally and just sponge it till it was textured and she would watch then go to another space on the wall and starting at the top would sponge in perfect rows down the wall... We laughed so hard over the painting... She said that doing random was so hard for her it made her brain hurt. We do have so much fun together.. I think probably because we are so different from each other in the way we think. Yet our values and the things we like are very similar. Anyway, we have known each other now for over 23 years. I met Mary when she and my husband worked together in the Navy on flight simulators. She used to come over with about 10 other people to play D&D on Saturdays at our house. She watched me all through both pregnancies and then we moved and they didn't and we didn't see or talk to one another for almost 11 years. When we moved back to the island She and her husband and family were back on the island too. We hooked up and well the rest is best friend history!
Okay so now it is 2:15 AM and I still haven't yawned. Think I will go up to my studio and see if the one floor cloth is done and perhaps prime the other so I will have two to paint tomorrow. Then I will really try to get some sleep. I hope you all are doing better than I am tonight. Sweet dreams. Talk with ya later today after I have slept a while.

Clinton Days

I hope everyone has had a great Tuesday. I worked at the shop again today. We had a great day with quite a few sales!! I planned on coming home and working on my tent for the flea market only to find a message on my machine that says I need to go to Rock Hoppers ( a local coffeehouse here at Clinton) and sign some papers. I had thought about going to the coffeehouse on the way home and decided that I really needed to get some work done so I wouldn't stop. The coffeehouse is run by some dear friends and I always end up spending way to much time there. Anyway not only did I end up spending way to much time but I got volunteered to work with Brenda (her husband and her own the coffeeshop) to schedule and coordinate next years Clinton Days. This will be the first year for Clinton days and it hasn't had a lot of press or promotion so it will more than likely be a small event this year. Next year it will be different though! We started planning tonight! Anyway, I am getting swamped with all the things I am volunteering to do. I do love it though since I am beginning to feel a real part of this community. So if you are in Clinton over Memorial Day please stop and see what is happening this year and next year for sure! We would love the visitors to our wonderful island to check us out!
I also signed up to run some classes in July! Teaching teens to learn their own styles. We are going to be doing some neat things with embellishments and different techniques to change clothes to things that say more about the kids personal styles. I am jazzed. It should be a fun experiment!
I feel so bad I just came home from the coffeehouse only to discover I had forgotten my dog who went outside to go to the bathroom. She is blind and normally I am overprotective of her but tonight I guess I just got totally distracted. Fortunately she knows to just come up on the patio and stay if we don't come get her right away (which she always is gotten without ever having to wait) but I still feel so bad!
I guess I had better go now. I need to paint some before bed and although I had planned on being able to paint all day and evening tomorrow I now find out I have to go to the airport to pick up my hubby. It's cool he's going to be home early but kinda puts a kink in my schedule. Oh well, I put kinks in his all the time! Gotta go.

Another day...

Well, hubby and I went to Bellingham yesterday. It was such a nice trip. If you get to Bellingham at all stop at the shops in Old Fairhaven. They have some very nice shops. My favorite to date is called Arrabellas. They have terrific pieces of vintage looking clothing, and jewelry, chandeliers, and a room that I honestly think I could live in forever.. Full of chenilles, and brocades and wonderful lush yummy fabrics. I wish I had a ton of money when I visited since I honestly think I could have bought half the store. Instead I bought a wonderful broach. I collect vintage brooches and love them but this one was definitely not vintage. Anyway, of course I visited the bead shop.. Got away from there having only spent $11.50. A cheap visit. I have one gripe. The wonderful pieces of art we saw in some of the shops were very cheap. When I asked about the prices I was told that they came from China. I HATE that! First of all I hate that we are selling art items that look American in design for so little money, when there are local artisans who need the exposure and the places to display and sell their work. Granted they are much more expensive but if you want something that is beautiful and unique you want it made well and that costs money. I saw wonderful beaded purses for $30 each and I know they took hours to make. I also know that they used substandard thread that breaks very easily so if you purchase a purse like the ones I saw you can expect that there will be a trail of beads following you down the sidewalk. I also hate that labor in china is forced labor from prisons or from women who are so poor they will do anything for enough food to feed themselves and their families. By buying these items you are forcing these women to undervalue their labor and their circumstances will never change. I find this appalling. I have no problem with the coops that have been opened for women in Africa and other areas. The materials produced for these coops are well made and sold at reasonable prices for the amount of work produced. It seems wrong that we as consumers are not more conscious of where the items we purchase come from and the impact our purchasing them has on others. Don't even ask me about Walmart. I have to admit that on occasion I do shop there. The items I purchase are usually small and generally are not made in China or Indonesia. I don't claim to have easy answers. I just think that maybe we should be more aware of our purchases and their impacts and start buying accordingly. I do have to admit that there is no easy answers to this problem. If we take away the items that women and slave labor in China produce we eliminate an income that these women need to survive. It is an important income even if it is much smaller than it should be. I have no easy answers... I just hate seeing local artisans undermined by poorly made cheaply priced crap.
I have been known to talk to artisans who underprice their things as well. I hate seeing artisans selling things for the cost of their materials. This undermines the rest of us who are trying to make a living off the things we make.
Well, I have ranted and raved for the day. I cleaned my kitchen and am off to paint! Take care till later.

Movie Review: Kingdom of Heaven

Well we just finished going to see Kingdom of Heaven last night. We had a terrific night.. Went out to dinner at Canyons (not one of my favorite places to dine) and then went to see the movie. I enjoyed this movie although I am not really sure why. I guess I liked the action and the story line but Why is it that Hollywood feels they have to take really interesting periods of history and falsify them to make a good story? Do they really think we are all stupid out here? I guess maybe I am an exception since I am a History major in college but good grief... Wouldn't it be wonderful to get a clear picture of the times without trying to decipher fact from fiction? Oh well, I wasn't expecting much from this movie because of the reviews. The acting was fair and the action was good. My husband found it ludicrous that the people in the main characters village had lived so many years without water and yet the minute the main character shows up they decide they need water and discover wells? Well anyway, I said I would do a quick blurb on the movie so you have my opinion for what it was worth.
I spent yesterday getting my website updated. So please visit it and let me know what you think. I will post later but bye for now.

May 13, 2005

Oops! Hubby just found out how much I spent on yarn last week! Not good! But every crafting addict knows that it takes money to support our vice.. I um mean our interests. I am also getting ready to put my stuff into storage. Yikes! Can't believe how much it costs for a storage unit. But if my finished things are in storage I will be able to walk around in my studio. You should see my tight quarters. I have more room in my iddy biddy bathroom.
Well I just spent the last week involved in a community effort to get a homeless shelter for teens on the island. I still cant believe that we have over 100 identified teens who are floating around in our community with no real stable home to go to. Most of these teens couch surf from one family to another. The problem is that the thing which caused those kids to not want to stay at home are still there and no one is addressing them. We are trying to find a way to create a transitional housing situation for teens here so those problems can be address. It is an interesting process.
I just found out that I will be teaching classes this summer to teens who want to learn how to change/update/modify/embellish clothing. It should be a fun effort. These classes are an effort to become more involved with teens in the community and get them more involved in our community effort for teens transitional housing. We are a non-profit organization that resells clothing to teens. Our money we raise is for the problem of transitional housing. Soooo... You will probably be hearing more about this from me since it is an issue that is so close to my heart. If any of you out there are aware of housing homeless teens I would love to hear from you.
I am also in the process of getting my display tent set up for the Clinton Flea Market. I had planned on being a part of that this weekend but my display cabinet isn't ready yet and my table is not ready so tomorrow is spent sewing as well as the rest of the day. Look for my website to be updated tonight or tomorrow. I have been adding pictures and updated info for it so it should be ready soon.
I guess for now that is all. For Friday the 13th it hasn't been a bad day at all.

May 8, 2005

Happy Mother's Day for all you moms out there.
I had a wonderful day yesterday. I took my husband and my best friend and her husband over to Port Townsend for the day. They had a bead show for me to attend. I have to admit I was a little disappointed that it was such a small bead show. It was in one small building but it was on the water and it was lovely yesterday. And....I did manage to blow a couple hundred dollars on beads..... and for all you men out there that are gasping at the thought of that much money on beads.... I will use the beads on items I will sell... Anyway, we went to the show then went to visit some of the shops and see what was for sale. Didn't buy anything else but water and a book! Of course... the book is called 500 beaded objects and well it gave me so many ideas.... I had a lamp that I started working on a while ago. It is a small lamp and I do not know what possessed me but I got it into my head to cover it with glitter......YUCK. I thought I had ruined it because once that was done I had no idea what to do with it again. W....E....L.....L..... I came up with a great idea! I will do bead work on it~ I don't quite know how but I have a couple of ideas and I am getting ready to start them. I have a wonderful scarf for the shade as well so it should be quite stunning when done. I will post a picture of my initial failure and then as I get working on it I will post the steps.
My cats have decided that I am quite fascinating this morning. My male cat is only a year old and weighs about 10 pounds. He comes in to see me and lets me know he's here by grabbing things on the edge of desk and knocking them off on the ground. Then he curls up at my feet and waits for me to finish on the computer. My female cat is about 2 and she is who I call my gentle soul. She is in truth a HUGE coward. When company comes she is gone and she stays gone for several days. She used to hide under our bed but since I have allergies to cats and dogs now (and anything living... ) and I have to make my bedroom my sanctuary... she is not allowed in the bedroom. I still havent quite figured out how to make my bedroom a sanctuary yet. I have my ironing in there, a small sewing space littered with about a zillion sewing projects, my clean clothes to put away and my dirty clothes that need to be done and well my bedroom is really my overflow from my studio at the moment. MY studio is so small that at the moment I dont have room to turn around in it. It has 4 projects that I am currently working on... a rocking chair, a coffee table and a huge painting and two full size screens, several lamps oooh and a bunch of lampshades I picked up for a dollar a piece and well there is paints everywhere because I have been painting and well...... you get the idea!
This week is work week. I want to start really getting my tent ready for display purposes. I need to paint some canvases for the floor cloths and walls of the tent and line my display cases and fix my display cases so they can stand and well that should keep me busy. I am also working at a store called teens unlimited two times this week, have an ombudsman meeting on Tuesday and a meeting on emergency/affordable housing that will meet on Thursday and a board meet on Friday. Not to mention that I have to go to the mainland for supplies and to take my hubby to and from the airport this week. Not a lot of time to get everything done that needs done. I will get it finished though even if it kills me. Another week of stress and work! What else is new? In all actuality I probably dont need and will be unable to get all my canvases done by Saturday and my hubby is the one who will make the stand for my display cases but everything else is mine.... I will be busy.
Well, I am going to get going. I need to get started on my idea for my lamp. Will have new postings on my website this week so take a look. Please let me know you visited. My stupid counter keeps telling me I have had no visits but I know I do because I have gotten some orders from the website. So either e-mail me or let me know here. Will have pictures either this week or next of this wonderful lamp and its transformation.

My first Post, Welcome to Ferryfolkdays

Hi, this is my first blog and I am so happy to be here. I am doing this blog as an extension of my website. I am an artist and if you go to my website you will see my work, me and where I live with my husband, dog and two cats. I just found out last week that I am allergic to both cats and the dog as well as anything green. This is not a good thing since most of the things around me are green all year long!
I come from a very small town 213 people when I was growing up and now it has a total of 241. It was in the Palouse Empire and was mostly farming. I moved to the water side of Washington and now live on an island where I can smell and hear the water all the time.
I have been an activities director in long term care facilities for over 20 years now and have worked with the elderly since I was 17 years old. I am now going back to school to get a degree in history with the goal of teaching high school. I tell everyone, I gave my youth to the elderly now I will give my knowledge, and wisdom (I hope) to the youth who will have it. I currently am on the board of two non-profit organizations here on the island and work two days a week at the thrift store that is run by one of the non profits. I am also an omnbudsman for long term care facilities here on the island.
Well, I will be posting at least two to three times every week on here. I hope someone finds me. My goal is to publish funny little stories, the progress of some of my projects, trips that we take and recipes and things that I want to pass on. I hope you stay tuned for more from ferry folk days. Rene